As colony caregivers, we are responsible for seeing that the cats we care for receive regular rabies vaccination as prescribed by law. Though this capture and revaccination can be a daunting task, it is nonetheless, the law.
Most cases of rabies in cats come from areas (such as the Northeast) where there are large populations of common rabies carriers such as raccoons, foxes and bats, and can pass the virus onto cats. If you are a community cat caretaker, it is important to vaccinate and revaccinate your colony.
The TNVR program carried out by Friends of Felines volunteers includes spaying/neutering and vaccinating cats against rabies therefore protecting our cats and protecting our community. In the State of NC, the 1st vaccine is good for 1 year. You are required by law to re-vaccinate your cat at the end of the first year, the 2nd vaccine being good for three years. Friends of Felines requires all caregivers to abide by this law. Keep your colonies and your neighbors safe from rabies. Please contact us if you need to borrow traps and get appointments to re-vaccinate your colony. We will be happy to help.

Cats On The Rocks : The Story Behind the Design by Sharon Harmon

Perhaps you have seen a Friends of Felines volunteer wearing our white tee or sweat shirt with the colorful design of a cat sitting on some rocks before an ocean sunrise. Maybe you even have one of the tee or sweat shirts yourself purchased from volunteers at local events. They are also available via our websitegift.html Tee shirts are $15 and sweat shirts are $25. Did you ever wonder what the design represents?

About 16 years ago, while driving to the ferry at Fort Fisher, I spotted a three-legged little black cat scurrying across the busy road and into a parking lot overlooking a large pile of rocks at the shoreline. It broke my heart to see the little one trying to scramble up the rocks to reach a pile of food being doled out by an elderly couple. Missing a back leg made it difficult for the little cat to climb as fast as the others. I watched as several cats gingerly climbed out of the rubble to feast on the food and water provided them. I had no idea there were so many. The couple fed them for years until traffic and people caused the demise of the little colony. I never found out the fate of the little three legged cat.

That encounter lead me to a group that was forming to care for the forgotten ones, now called Friends of Felines. The artwork I designed for the shirts represents the Cats On The Rocks of that colony long gone. Your purchase of our shirts will help provide for feral cats. They make great gifts!

Many of you know us as a Trap, Neuter, Vaccinate and Return (TNVR) program for the feral cats in New Hanover. But did you know we also:
Help individuals on fixed incomes with food for their colonies
Take in, tame, and foster kittens from our colonies
Take kittens from the “back” of animal services when they are too small to be fixed so that so they don’t have to be euthanized
Work with local adoption groups to place the tame cats and kittens from our colonies
Provide medical care for the cats that have gone through our program
In extreme cases relocate cats who are in danger of death due to changing situations to our partner group, The Ruffian Foundation Feral Cat Sanctuary
Work with animal services on complaints with existing colonies
Work with animal services on new colonies so cats can stay where they live
Provide education to help the public understand the benefits of our TNVR program
Because of our work we have grown from a simple TNVR program to a group with many different outreach programs.

If you think we are ONLY a TNVR program, think again! If you want to help us as a
volunteer please contact us via email at /newsletter.html

Hannah was a dedicated volunteer, friend and a beloved champion of animals since we met her over 15 years ago. The apartment she moved into in Carolina Beach had 10-15 feral cats living in the neighborhood, she contacted Friends of Felines for help and our friendship was born. Wherever she moved she trapped all the feral cats and fostered the kittens.
Hannah had an avid passion for animals. She herself saved hundreds of cats and dogs and turned them into loving pets. Placing an animal was one of Hannah’s most gratifying experiences!
Another one of Hannah’s passions was her father's fire engine red Jaguar 1990 XJS. Hannah and her dad flew to Texas to pick up the car and drove it back to NC with Hannah driving all the way because she loved it so well. In her journal, she talked about how much she loved working with Friends of Felines and how much support we had given her over the years.
She wanted us to be remembered after her death. In keeping with her wishes her father, Bill Reid, donated their beloved Jaguar to Friends of Felines so the proceeds could help us get the van we have so desperately needed. We have now purchased the van with his help and others who have donated towards it. It’s a cargo van with lots of space to haul cats in traps and carriers as well as supplies for caretakers.
Since the age of thirteen Hannah struggled with Bipolar Illness. Like many chronic illnesses, Bipolar symptoms can worsen with time. On August 25, 2016, Hannah could no longer manage the delicate balance of health and disease that she had mastered for years. She lost a “battle”, but Hannah’s life is evidence of her “winning” the war. Hannah was brave; she was a hero to many. She was a strong woman. She had a big heart. She will be deeply and forever missed by all who loved her.

Adventures in Cat Rescue
Skylar's Story
by T. Lewis

Skylar woke startled from her nap. She was sleeping in a nice warm pile of laundry by her favorite window. There was a lot of noise in the house. People were running about and talking in loud angry voices. Skylar was frightened and burrowed deep into the basket. The kittens developing inside her very young body stirred as she tried to get comfortable. Soon Skylar fell asleep again.
When she awoke, it was dark and silent in the old house. Skylar went to her bowl for dinner and found only a few crumbs left from the morning. The kittens inside her made her very hungry. She ate what she could find then walked to the living room to find the little girl she loved so much. But no one was there. The family was gone.
Skylar waited for the little girl but she never came. Not that night, nor the next day or the next. Skylar was so hungry. She tried to find some food but there was nothing but an empty bowl where her dinner usually appeared. Skylar found some water to drink in the sink with some dirty dishes that she licked clean. After a while, there was nothing…no food, no water, no sweet little girl with the gentle hands. Skylar was starving.
Then one day, the front door opened and the contractor came in. Skylar was frightened and ran to hide. The person stomped about and was making noise. Finally, he sat down at the table with a delicious smelling bag. Skylar tried to stay hidden but the food smelled so good! She had not eaten in a week. She cautiously crept out of her hiding place to the man’s foot and begged for a bite of food.
The man jumped, startled by the little cat! She ran but came back when he said to her, “Hey little kitty. Where did you come from? Are you hungry?” and he held out a piece of wonderful smelling meat from is lunch. Skylar wanted it so badly but was very afraid. Finally, she decided to trust the man and took the offered burger from his hand.
It was wonderful! She curled and purred and made biscuits with her feet to show how much she liked it. The man gave her some more but she was so hungry that it was gone too soon. The man said he did not have anything else, gave her head a scratch and left. Skylar was devastated. She did not know what to do and ran from window to window crying for the man to come back. Abandoned again!!
The very next day, the man came back and brought Terry Lewis, a Friends of Felines and Ruffian Foundation Feral Cat Sanctuary volunteer. Skylar was afraid but the people talked gently to her. They gave her some cat food and water and she ate it so fast she threw it up. Terry picked her up and put her in a cat carrier and took her to their car. As they drove away from the only home she’d known Skylar heard the people discussing her. The contractor aid she had been abandoned in the house along with the family’s possessions. They had been evicted and took nothing, not even Skylar.
Within hours of leaving her old home Skylar found herself a mom with two tiny black kittens. Terry gave her food and a warm place to care for her
babies. A few weeks later, when the kittens were weaned, the woman took
Skylar in to be spayed and vaccinated. Skylar and her kittens were placed for adoption and they each found loving new homes thanks to the kind Friends of Felines volunteers who cared for them.

No one knows exactly when Miss Kitty (aka Mama Girl) came to live at The Cotton Exchange. However, everyone who knew her agrees that by 2000 she was a daily ghostly gray shadow gliding through
t
he breezeway. She was so beautiful and independent that several
merchants began to place bits of food behind the courtyard lattice work for he
r
.
Soon she was coming by every day at about the same time.

In the early years, Miss Kitty had kittens under an old house across the street
.
Knowing her babies would be safe and have a food source, she brought them across Front Street one by one and placed them behind the lattice. There they played and were taught survival lessons by the
ir
good mother cat
.
We found homes for the kittens and got Miss Kitty fixed.

Even after Miss Kitty was spayed, she never lost her nurturing personality. One evening she brought to the food bowl a litter of
b
aby opossums
.
Day after day she shared her food and taught them how to stay safe
.
She was their new mom and continued her relationship with the opossums long after they were grown.

Miss Kit
t
y spent hours watching the many visitors
t
o The Cotton Exchange from the rooftops and from a nearby brick wall. She was aloof and regal and made children and adults smile. She seemed to
l
ove rock music as it was played in the courtyard but would
l
eave for
t
he day when the bagpipes were brought out
.

Miss Kitty was never one to be cuddly but if the invit
i
ng hand was placed just so at the lattice, she may rub gently against it as if to show thanks for the food, water, or conversation.

Surviving heat, cold, hurricane winds, traffic, and the threat of disease, Miss Kitty never made a mess or caused problems. Over the years she peacefully shared the courtyard and rooftops with a variety of othe
r
animals. She belonged to herself, never wanting or needing to belong to anyone person.

Then in January 2012, Miss Kitty was found with a life
t
hreatening injury. A concerned caregiver contacted Friends of Felines. Miss Kl
t
ty was provided with medical care through the Friends of Felines medical fund and a donation. She recovered and returned home. However, a few months later she fell victim to inoperable cancer. She is buried in the courtyard where she lived, played, and raised all her children. We miss her, but know she is watching down on us from the rooftops. Her spiri
t
lives on through those who loved her
.